About Last Night: The Yankees Skinned the Tigers 9-3

About Last Night: The Yankees Skinned the Tigers 9-3

By Tim Kabel

September 12, 2025

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After losing each of the first two games to the Tigers by ten runs, the Yankees bounced back to shell the Tigers 9-3. They avoided the sweep by the Tigers by winning last night.  They are now 5-4 in the first nine games of the twelve-game stretch against playoff teams.  Now, they will head into Boston for a three-game series against the Red Sox.

Quick Stats – 

·       Cam Schlittler rebounded from his worst start of the season. He pitched six innings, allowing one run, and striking out seven to earn the victory.

·       Aaron Judge hit two home runs to tie Joe DiMaggio for 4th place on the Yankees’ career home run list with 361.

·       Giancarlo Stanton hit his 20th home run of the season and 449th of his career, tying Vladimir Guerrero, Sr. and Jeff Bagwell for 41st place on the career list.  

·       Stanton and Judge hit home runs in the same game for the 56th time since becoming teammates. The Yankees are 49-7 in those games. They tied Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra for second place for the duo with the most home runs in the same game as Yankees. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are in first place with 75 such games. 

·       This is Aaron Judge’s 4th season with 45 or more home runs.

·       Judge hit his 18th first inning home run of the season, tying the Major League record with Alex Rodriguez, who did it in 2001. It was also Judge’s 45th career multi home run game, which is the third most in Yankees’ history behind Mickey Mantle with 46, and Babe Ruth with 68.

·       On September 11^th, 2009, Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig's all-time franchise hit record with his 2,721st career hit.

·       A quick note. I will be going to Canada beginning September 22nd, to participate in Fat Bear week. The smart money will be on me, as Otis, Bear # 480 has not been seen this year, and he was 30 years old, which is quite elderly for the average bear.

Big Story – 

The Yankees won in convincing fashion last night. However, they lost the series to the Tigers and the first two games were the only time the Yankees ever lost back-to-back games by 10 or more runs. It was agreed by everyone that this 12-game stretch was extremely important for the Yankees’ postseason fortunes. They are now 5-4 with three games remaining against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

By the way, those are the same Red Sox who have beaten the Yankees 8 out of 10 games so far this season. The Yankees will need to win the series against the Red Sox this weekend to have a winning record over the 12-game stretch against playoff teams. That would be a tall order under any circumstances but particularly with the way things have gone so far this season. 

Right now, the Yankees are 1/2 game ahead of the Red Sox for second place in the American League East and first place in the Wild Card race. Remember, if the Red Sox win the top spot or tie with the Yankees for first place in the Wild Card race, the Red Sox will get home field advantage in the three-game playoff series because they won the season series against the Yankees. That means all three games would be played at Fenway Park. I think the Red Sox would be a very tough opponent for the Yankees whether they played in Boston or the Bronx, but it would be that much harder in Boston. 

There are 16 games left in the season. It's not an exaggeration to say that these next three are the most important ones. However, if the Yankees do manage to win this weekend's series, they would need to keep winning after that to maintain a favorable Wild Card position. A lot of things could change over the next two weeks.

Player of the Game – 

Aaron Judge had three hits, including two home runs and drove in two runs. 

Notable Performances – 

Giancarlo Stanton hit his 20^th home run of the season.

Cam Schlittler had a solid outing and lowered his ERA to 3.05.

Better To Forget-

Ryan McMahon was the only starter not to have a hit and his average for the season is now .219. 

My Take – 

The Yankees have 16 games left in their season. They are in second place in the American League East and trail the Blue Jays by three games. They do not have any more games against the Blue Jays this season. Because the Blue Jays won the season series against the Yankees, the Yankees would need to be a game ahead of the Blue Jays to win the division. A tie would not get the job done. Although it is not impossible for the Yankees to overtake the Blue Jays, it is unlikely.

In the Wild Card race, the Yankees are 1/2 game ahead of the Red Sox for the top position. The Mariners currently hold the final Wild Card position and are three games behind the Yankees. Texas is on the outside looking in, but they are only 1 1/2 games behind Seattle. A lot could change over the final sixteen games of the season.

The three-game series against the Red Sox that begins tonight at Fenway Park is the most important series of the year for the Yankees. They do not want to play a best of three-game series in the playoffs at Fenway Park. At least, they should not want to do so. Remember, it didn't have to be this way. The Yankees were leading the division by seven games on May 30th. Now they are in a brawl to make the playoffs and to secure a favorable position. This year's Boone-Swoon really fouled up the Yankees’ postseason plans.

Although the Yankees did play well against both Toronto and Houston, they did not play well against the Tigers, other than last night's game. They were destroyed in the first two games. They will now go to Boston to play the Red Sox. The Red Sox have had their way with the Yankees all season long. It is crucial for the Yankees to win this series if they want to secure the home field advantage against the Red Sox in the playoffs. Yes, they could do it without winning this series, but it would be much harder. That means they will have to do something they haven't been able to do consistently all season: beat the Red Sox. They will need to at the very least, equal the number of wins they have against the Red Sox so far this season. They have won two out of the first ten games against the Red Sox. Now they need to win two out of three. That will be tough.

The scariest part about this is that because the Yankees frittered away their lead in the division since May 30th, they will now be relying on Aaron Boone to out-manage Alex Cora. Stranger things have happened, I suppose. I just can't think of any examples right now. This will be a very interesting weekend.

Next Up-

The Yankees will open a three-game series against the Red Sox tonight at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park. The Red Sox will use Lucas Giolito, (10-3, 3.38 ERA). The Yankees will send Luis Gil, (3-1, 3.31 ERA) to the mound.